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Incorrect grammar in content or e-mails can diminish the way customers and other professional contacts view your business. Amie Marse provides a guide to avoiding 20 common grammar mistakes, such as the confusion of "who" and "whom" and the improper use of the word "enormity."

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The connection between Mark Twain and blogging might not be immediately obvious, but Amie Marse writes there is a lot content marketers can learn from the American icon's approach to writing. Twain's famous quotations emphasize the importance of revising your work and explaining your ideas as concisely as possible. "Remember, the Internet is shifting toward short form online content, folks," Marse writes. "Writing that is clean and crisp is much more effective."

Before choosing a copywriter to produce marketing materials for your business, you should ask to see work samples, make sure you will be able to reach him or her on the phone and ensure that he or she will do keyword research, writes Amie Marse. A copywriter who doesn't do keyword research is "kind of like a chef opening a restaurant and asking you to bring your own ingredients," Marse writes.

To avoid legal trouble, don't ask employees to provide too much information from their doctors when they are out sick, and apply the same sick leave standards to all employees, writes Aditi Mukherji. "All an employer really needs to know is that the employee's absence was for a medical reason and how much time he or she needs off," Mukherji writes. However, you can seek additional information if an employee needs to take leave under Family Medical Leave Act, as long as you follow the guidelines of that law.

Sale prices for small businesses are typically based on a calculation called seller's discretionary earnings, which is the amount a new owner could get annually. The price will be a multiple of that calculation, depending on how capital-intensive the business is and the level of reliance on its current owner, says Ron Hottes of BusinessTeam, a business broker.

Learn to ask questions like a journalist in order to get answers that can advance your career objectives. Veteran journalists provide tips, such as to ask concise questions that begin with "who" or "what" and to cut off rambling answers to keep the conversation focused.